Battling against tobacco
Guatemala is exploring the possibility of legal action against multinational cigarette firms, the first such move by a country
Spice woes
Thousands of Mizoram farmers now face an impending financial crisis, thanks to the apathy of the state government
Dark arena
The people of Kalahandi may have survived droughts and floods. But they see little hope in their battle against exploitation
Patent fears
Scientists in Karnataka are forced by the administration to abandon efforts towards documenting the biodiversity knowledge of indigenous people
A lake full of woes
The Orissa state government and the high court assume different postures even as the local fisherfolk continue to suffer
Bhopal revisited
The government department to provide relief to the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy may be closed down
Common platform
An environmental rating project provides a meeting ground for the Indian pulp and paper sector
Arctic plunder
The Bush administration has passed a bill that permits oil and gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Green levy plan scrapped
Andhra Pradesh government junks ecofriendly tax plan proposed for 15-year old polluting vehicles
Nepal squeezes forest users
The community forest user groups of Nepal will now be required to cough up a steep 40 per cent fee on their total income from sale of forest products
Snooping on the rain
Indian scientists have embarked on the final leg of an ambitious voyage to unravel the mysteries of the monsoon
Karnataka hangs on to its sandalwood
The Karnataka government ostensibly allows private production of sandalwood, but actually maintains a tight rein on the trade. In fact, eight …
Code of misconduct
The human genome may not solve all our problems. One of the most far-reaching consequences of the decoding is the ability to predict people's …
Foolproof tool to detect TB
the diagnosis of tuberculosis is likely to be faster and more reliable in the future with researchers from the uk-based University of Oxford …
Nipping malaria in the bud
Scientists from the Desert Medicine Research Centre, Jodhpur, have found that the Indian nightshade (Solanum xanthocarpum) is fatal for three …
Row over investments
Down to Earth begins a series of previews of the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference 2003 in Cancun, Mexico
The real bad news
The most prosperous regions and communities in India have a bias against the female sex. Religion-based data shows us the biggest development …
Suddenly tribal
Some wildlifers resorted to outdated anthropology to stop the tribal forest rights bill. They failed
Safe food?
The draft bill promises to be transparent. Yet, the Food Authority has a lot of discretion in this respect
Green cover in tribal areas increases
Green activists and tribal community have been fighting against government-aided coal and mine expansion programmes for long now
Playing God
The creation of the first artificial dna gives rise to endless possibilities
Drug-resistant TB now epidemic among HIV+ people in Mumbai
Transmission from one person to another, not inadequate treatment, is major cause for spread of disease, says study investigator
Temple town to ghost town: Kedarnath before and after flash flood
Floods in Kedar valley swept away or damaged almost everything in its way, except for the main Shiva temple, a grey stone structure, said to have …
Peru investigating death of 500 sea lions
While the government has accused fishers of poisoning them, environmentalists are probing other causes, including ingestion of plastic and disease
The drying pens of calligraphy
As digital calligraphy becomes popular, traditional calligraphy artists who write by hand are facing diminishing prospects for their livelihood